has indeed been rightly guided; whoever disobeys them both harms only himself and will not harm Allah in the least.”

All the messengers called people to worship Allah, fear Him, stand in awe of Him, and obey His messengers. As Noah, peace be upon him, said:

“Worship Allah, fear Him, and obey me.”

Allah, Most High, says:

“Whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger, stands in awe of Allah, and fears Him—it is they who will triumph.”

Noah and each of the prophets said:

“So fear Allah and obey me.”

Obeying the Messenger in what he has commanded us is the foundation upon which every Muslim must rely. It is the means to felicity, just as failing to do so is the cause of misery. All Muslims agree that obeying his commands takes precedence for us over imitating an action in which he has not commanded us to imitate him. The scholars have not disputed that his commands carry greater weight than his actions, for an action of his may be exclusive to him, or it may be recommended. His commands to us, however, are part of the religion Allah has commanded us to follow.

Among his actions are those which we know he commanded us to emulate, as when he said:

“Pray as you have seen me pray.”

And when, after leading them in prayer while on the pulpit, he said:

“I did this only so that you would follow my lead and learn how I pray.”

And when he performed the pilgrimage, he said:

“Learn your pilgrimage rites from me.”

Furthermore, the Book and the Sunnah establish that whatever he did as a matter of ordinary custom is permissible for us, unless there is evidence that it was exclusive to him. As Allah, Glorified and Most High, says:

“When Zayd had ended his marriage to her, We gave her to you in marriage, so that there would be no blame on the believers for marrying the wives of their adopted sons once the latter have ended their marriages to them.”

Thus He permitted him to marry